2026 - 2036: A Defining Decade

In 2036, daily life will look and feel very different.

We are in a period of profound disruption driven by rapid technological advances, heightened international tension, and turbulent internal politics across much of the Western world. It is one of those rare historic inflection points in which nearly every aspect of everyday life is ultimately affected.

While much is unpredictable, the United States remains uniquely positioned to shape the next decade for the better. In many ways this can be a defining era for our nation. But achieving this will be an uphill battle - we face a number of challenges that require action, and our internal politics are so chaotic that our attention is constantly diverted from one issue to another.

To ensure we come through this decisive period in a stronger position we must look past the chaos and turbulence and sustain a coherent focus on three core priorities.

First. Systemically leverage technological change and economic growth for a positive future.

The ongoing AI and robotics revolution is comparable to the Second Industrial Revolution, which gave us electrification, the assembly line, and automobiles. Like that revolution, this one will generate massive economic growth and change society in ways we can only begin to imagine.

Many Americans are understandably concerned about how fast AI is moving, especially given the hype and questions about privacy, use by minors, and energy consumption. These concerns need to be addressed by thoughtful regulation and creative energy policy. But advances in AI will continue at a breakneck pace in the US and China, and it will ultimately provide access to remarkably capable tools.

For millennia, humans have embraced new tools that can be used for both good and ill, and AI will be no different. What makes this moment unique is the scale of the upside. The convergence of AI, autonomous systems, and a skilled workforce has the potential to be truly transformational.

The Second Industrial Revolution helped accelerate the US middle class, but it happened haphazardly over decades and left many behind. If we organize now and act with a sense of urgency, we can use the tools generated by this revolution to tackle some of our most persistent and complex challenges, including:

· Healthcare: AI and robotics can shift care from reactive to proactive and make high-quality healthcare universally accessible. This will be driven by advanced diagnostics, personalized early interventions, accelerated drug discovery, surgical robotics, continuous remote monitoring, and automation of routine tasks and administrative procedures.

· Housing: By transforming construction from a fragmented, labor-intensive process into automated, scalable manufacturing, AI and robotics can disrupt housing and restore affordability. Robotics can accelerate framing, plumbing, and electrical work, while AI optimizes design, materials, and logistics. When paired with practical regulation, we can address what is one of our most pressing needs.

· Education: With the right guardrails and infrastructure, AI can dramatically expand access to highly effective, personalized instruction for all Americans, regardless of income or school district. Universal access to a one-on-one AI tutor - not to be confused with social media, AI “companions,” or using ChatGPT to write a paper - can enable mastery-based learning in any subject and any language. When integrated into a structured program teachers will be able to focus on human connection, critical thinking and reasoning, and other essential life skills.

Other sectors such as manufacturing, energy, and transportation will also be dramatically reshaped. This same wave of innovation will transform both white- and blue-collar work, eliminating some jobs while creating new roles that demand new skills. The change will be gradual at first, initially impacting entry-level jobs and some white-collar work, but it will accelerate through the decade. Without deliberate action, it risks widening inequality and straining social cohesion.

But if we choose to get ahead of the problem, this era of rapid growth and job creation can instead be harnessed to rebuild the American middle class. This will require augmenting public education with institutionalized apprenticeships, large-scale mentoring, defined pathways into in-demand fields, universal AI literacy, creative ways to transport people to jobs, and financial support for community college and post–high school training.

Done boldly at scale - and rooted in local communities - this strategy can reverse decades of economic stagnation. When coupled with access to healthcare and affordable housing, we can reignite the American Dream for everyone.

This is all within our grasp over the next ten years. But achieving it will require a pragmatic regulatory environment, sustained public and private investment, and a practical bipartisan willingness to pursue new approaches to long-standing problems.

Second. Deter an expanded conflict in Europe and a Chinese assault on Taiwan.

A Russian attack on a Baltic nation or Chinese military action against Taiwan would cause a staggering loss of life, have a catastrophic impact on the world economy and global supply chains, and ultimately effect daily life in the United States. No matter where you stand politically, it’s in our national interest to prevent all this from happening.

While Russian and Chinese intentions over the next decade are impossible to predict, the geopolitical climate will be defined by increased tensions and uncertainty. To sustain credible deterrence we need to take a series of measures now.

· Reduce Vulnerabilities: Our adversaries can employ an advanced technology in a novel disruptive way before we recognize it as a threat. As a starting point, we must increase efforts to harden our power grid, financial systems, communications networks, and water infrastructure against cyber and malicious hardware/software threats. We also need to look beyond infrastructure, reassess what now constitutes a potential strategic disabling threat, and take preventative measures. Examples could include engineered pathogens, orbital interceptors, influence operations designed to manipulate markets, and malicious use of personal and geospatial data to target individuals

· Win the AI Race: To outpace China’s massive state-driven effort we must achieve the loosely defined Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) first, lead in autonomous technologies, and apply these capabilities faster across economic, scientific and military domains. This requires sustained investment in compute infrastructure and energy generation, maintaining an edge in advanced chips, and expanding the AI talent pipeline. To prevent data center energy costs from being passed on to consumers, we need to pursue on-site, self-sufficient generation using small modular reactors, high-efficiency natural-gas turbines, or emerging hydrogen technologies, paired with solar and large-scale battery storage.

· Build 21st Century Capacity Fast – Especially for Deterrence in the Pacific: We need to accelerate the work done by the Biden and Trump administrations and rapidly field an integrated system that layers large numbers of low-cost to highly sophisticated AI-enabled platforms - unmanned air/surface/undersea, long-range precision strike, and dispersed sensors - with manned ships, submarines, and aircraft. And fully integrate allied systems and capabilities. The goal is an overwhelming, resilient capability that reduces dependence on a small number of expensive, vulnerable platforms. This is a herculean task that dictates a 1941-like sense of urgency, increased spending in select focus areas, and government adoption of the rapid innovate-to-scale mindset of a tech startup. The moment also demands that we stop the debilitating use of Continuing Resolutions and government shutdowns through this decisive period.

· Strengthen Alliances in Europe and the Pacific: Deterrence is a shared, collective mission. In Europe, we need to publicly reaffirm our commitment to the alliance and to NATO Article 5. We also need to continue to push allies to carry their burden while we contribute our unique capabilities—intelligence, strategic lift, refueling, missile defense, precision strike, cyber and space. In the Indo-Pacific, we must institutionalize cooperation with the Quad (U.S., Australia, India, Japan), promote increased defense spending, and strengthen ties with key countries like Vietnam and the Philippines.

· Recruit Top Private-Sector Talent to National Security Roles: In 1942 we made William Knudson, the President of GM with no military experience, a 3-star general and gave him real authority to accelerate our WWII industrial mobilization. He knew little about the Army, but he was a genius at mass production. Today we need to do the same in areas such as cyber, advanced manufacturing, energy, and AI.

Third. Build a national consensus around these strategic priorities.

We clearly have the capacity to leverage the AI revolution and to deter conflicts in Europe and the Pacific. The question is whether we have the national will.

Achieving the scale and speed required in both strategic areas will require a group of bipartisan leaders - statesmen and stateswomen - willing to break from our current dysfunctional politics and chart a consensus way ahead. That path must elevate these priorities to national imperatives, define public-private roles, and drive bipartisan policies and programs that will survive changes in the White House and congress.

Transformative moments in history are rare - and recognizing them in real time is rarer still. This one is a huge tsunami we see coming. We can stay on our current divided path and live with the consequences, or we can build a consensus in these select areas and leverage a once-in-a-century opportunity to shape a much better future.